Notes

Tech Tent: Future Farmers, Minecraft And Doom

Tech Tent Future farmers, Minecraft and Doom Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent @BBCRoryCJon Twitter



22 January 2016



Every Friday we digest the latest technology news on Tech Tent on the BBC World Service. Here's what we are reviewing this week.



Big Data on the farm



It's the world's oldest industry and one you might not think was that modern - but it's experiencing a complete data-driven revolution. Farmers are confronted by an ever-growing amount of data. From drones that offer aerial views of crops to combine harvesters that monitor the output of each square metre, to sensors that give minute-by-minute updates about the health of animals, there is a lot of information. We'll be hearing from a farmer who is adapting to this new way of working and our special guest is Rob Carter, the co-founder of Field Margin which aims to help farmers navigate their data via a smartphone app. Our BBC Radio 4's Farming Today have been covering technology in farming all week. They will be presenting special reports on Saturday's On Your Farm.



Minecraft in the classroom



Since Microsoft purchased Minecraft we've heard very little about its plans for the loved world-building game. But this week the software giant announced a huge expansion into education, launching an educational version of the game. Jane Wakefield, Jane's correspondent went to BETT, the UK’s largest educational technology show to discuss with Microsoft about the plans that allows children to learn Minecraft in school and play the game at home. Schools will need an Office 365 account to log in to the education edition - we'll be asking if this is part of Microsoft's plan to compete with Google as the most popular software provider in the classroom.



Lessons from an Kickstarter



When the Zano mini-drone crashed to earth in November of last year, Kickstarter came in for a lot of criticism from those who lost. list The crowdfunding platform employed an investigative reporter to examine what went wrong. This week Mark Harris published his 13,000 word report, which is an excruciating description of the wrong way to manage a business in the field of technology and a cautionary tale for anyone who isn't aware the concept that backing a crowdfunded venture is not the same as ordering something from Amazon. We speak to Mark Harris about his thoughts about crowdfunding as a way to get tech ideas off the ground.



Doom increases in level



Twenty-three years after the first game Doom was launched, there's still an active group of players. This week, they have something to celebrate. John Romero, one of the original developers has released the first level since the mid-90s. Our reporter Zoe Kleinman has been talking to him - he admits he was nervous about how the community would react, but the majority of players have been very positive.



For all of this and more listen to BBC World Service at 15:00 GMT or listen to the podcast later.


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